How to Format a Mail Merge Field in MS Word
How to Format a Mail Merge Field in MS Word
Question
How can I format a merge field for currency in MS Word?
Answer
This FAQ will show you how to have the number “2000” display as “$2,000.00” when merged into a Microsoft Word template.
Types of Formatting | |
---|---|
No Formatting | 2000 |
Currency symbol | $2000 |
Two Decimal Places | 2000.00 |
Thousand separator | 2,000 |
All formatting is done to the merge field within the MS Word template, not within ReadySetAuction.
- Open the letter template in MS Word. Your merge fields should appear similar to this: «amount»
- Hold “Alt” and press “F9” on your keyboard to display the field codes, which should look similar to this: { MERGEFIELD amount }
Alt+F9 works as a toggle between the two views; pressing Alt+F9 a second time will display the field values again instead of codes. - Add the following expression at the end of the word “amount” without leaving spaces: \# $,0.00
Your field should now look like this: { MERGEFIELD amount\# $,0.00 } - Press Alt+F9 to return the page view to merge values and you are ready to merge.
There is another method of formatting the merge data for a mail merge that can be found on the Knowledge Base at Microsoft Support.
Question
What do the characters that we added to merge fields mean and do?
Answer
The “\# $,0.00” that we added to the merge field told the field to do the following:
\ | Designates that what follows will be for formatting |
# | Designates that the formatting will be done to numbers |
$ | Designates that the American dollar sign will be included |
, | Designates that a comma will be used before the thousand place |
0.00 | Designates two decimal places (0.000 would show three decimal places) |
When you put it together, you get \# $,0.00
Question
How do I change the format of a date field?
Answer
The date merge fields can have formatting added to them in the same way as currency merge fields.
- Hold “Alt” and press “F9” to display the field codes, which should look similar to this: { MERGEFIELD GIFT_DATE}
Alt+F9 works as a toggle between the two views; pressing it a second time will display the field values again instead of codes. - Add your function to the end of the field name (e.g. GIFT_DATE) without leaving spaces. See a list of functions below.
- Press Alt+F9 to return the page view to merge values and you are ready to merge.
Output | Function |
---|---|
March 01, 2015 | \@ “MMMM dd, yyyy” |
March 1, 2015 | \@ “MMMM d, yyyy” |
01 March 2015 | \@ “dd MMMM yyyy” |
03/01/2015 | \@ “MM/dd/yyyy” |
Sunday (3/1/15) | \@ “dddd, (M/d/yy)” |
\ | Designates that what follows will be for formatting |
@ | Designates that the formatting will be done to dates |
M | Designates Month in a date. Must be uppercase since a lowercase “m” designates minutes. M - uses one number if possible MM - always uses two numbers MMM - will use the written month abbreviated (Mar) MMMM - displays the full name of the month. |
d | Designates Day in a date d - uses one number if possible; dd - always uses two numbers ddd - will display the abbreviated day of the week (Sun) dddd - will display the full name of the day of the week. |
y | Designates Year in a date. yy - uses two numbers for the year yyyy - uses four number for the year. |